The Stonewards were Surgebinders who used the Surges of Cohesion and Tension, and they absorbed Stormlight from gems. So far it is not known what powers the Stonewards had. The glow of their Shardplate was amber[1].

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The Ideals of the Knights Radiant, also known as the Immortal Words, are a set of rules by which the Radiant lived. The First Ideal, identical for all orders of the Radiants, is used as their motto. Each of the Radiant Orders then had an additional four ideals that were unique to each order.

Please read carefully and note that this is not necessarily canonical.

While Stonewards' exact powers are unknown, some ideas about their powers can be inferred from their Surges.

Cohesion: the property of like molecules (of the same substance) to stick to each other due to mutual attraction.

Tension: Tension is the force that is transmitted through a string, rope, cable or wire when it is pulled tight by forces acting from opposite ends. The tension force is directed along the length of the wire and pulls equally on the objects attached to opposite ends of the wire. So, tension could be said to be a "binding" force in that it is a measure of the force that holds two objects together.

Given these forces, it is possible that some of the Stonewards' powers will resemble those of Lurchers from Mistborn and the Full Lashings used by Windrunners. Stonewards' "lurcher" abilities should allow them to pull on objects of the same substances (and possibly only stone) similar to the way that lurchers pull on metals. Additionally, given the similarities between cohesion (attraction to like substances) and adhesion (attraction to unlike substances), Stonewards should be able to stick objects of the same substance together in the same way that Full Lashings allow Windrunners to attach objects to walls.

If Stonewards are only able to use their abilities on stone - or even if their abilities are not limited to stone, but stone has historically been their substance of choice - then it is easy to see how they got their name. Stonewards could presumably pull stones to themselves and stick them together to create any number of stone constructs (defensive barriers, buildings, sculptures, etc.).

“ Now, as each order was thus matched to the nature and temperament of the Herald it named patron, there was none more archetypal of this than the Stonewards, who followed after Talenelat'Elin, Stonesinew, Herald of War: they thought it a point of virtue to exemplify resolve, strength, and dependability. Alas, they took less care for imprudent practice of their stubbornness, even in the face of proven error.
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